Effect of the dietary supplementation of essential oils from rosemary and artemisia on muscle fatty acids and volatile compound profiles in Barbarine lambs

Eighteen Barbarine lambs (3 months of age), were assigned for 95 days to 3 treatments: six lambs were fed a barley-based concentrate plus oat hay ad libitum (control group, C); other lambs received the control diet plus essential oil (400 ppm DM) either of Rosmarinus officinalis (R400 group; n = 6) or of Artemisia herba alba (A400 group; n = 6). At slaughter the muscle longissimus dorsi was sampled and subjected to fatty acid and volatile organic compounds (VOC) analyses. The A400 lambs presented a greater amount of vaccenic, rumenic and linolenic acids and of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in meat than the C and R400 animals. Essential oils supplementation did not affect meat VOC profile though the sesquiterpenes copaene and β-caryophyllene were detected only in the meat of R400 and A400 lambs. It is concluded that the supplementation of rosemary or artemisia essential oils does not produce detrimental effects on lamb meat VOC profile. The supplementation of artemisia can improve meat healthy properties.     

Influence of degree of hydrolysis on functional properties and angiotensin I‐converting enzyme‐inhibitory activity of protein hydrolysates from cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) by‐products

BACKGROUND: In Tunisia the cuttlefish‐processing industry generates large amounts of solid wastes. These wastes, which may represent 35% of the original material and constitute an important source of proteins, are discarded without any attempt at recovery. This paper describes some functional properties and the angiotensin I‐converting enzyme (ACE)‐inhibitory activity of protein hydrolysates prepared by hydrolysis of cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) by‐products with crude enzyme extract from Bacillus licheniformis NH1. RESULTS: Cuttlefish by‐product protein hydrolysates (CPHs) with different degrees of hydrolysis (DH 5, 10 and 13.5%) were prepared. All CPHs contained 750–790 g kg^?1 proteins. Solubility, emulsifying capacity and water‐holding capacity increased while fat absorption and foaming capacity decreased with increasing DH. All hydrolysates showed greater fat absorption than the water‐soluble fraction from undigested cuttlefish by‐product proteins and casein. CPHs were also analysed for their ACE‐inhibitory activity. CPH3 (DH 13.5%) displayed the highest ACE inhibition (79%), with an IC₅₀ value of 1 mg mL^?1. CONCLUSION: Hydrolysis of cuttlefish by‐product proteins with alkaline proteases from B. licheniformis resulted in a product with excellent solubility over a wide pH range and high ACE‐inhibitory activity. This study suggests that CPHs could be utilised to develop functional foods for prevention of hypertension. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

A stochastic Markovian approach to trip distribution

Conclusions Experience with trip-distribution models shows that the discrepancy between actual and estimated values of trip production, attraction, decay, and interchange cannot be completely eliminated. To improve upon this situation, this paper attributed a random structure to the trip-generation process by introducing a random error. Within this stochastic context, it was possible to develop a solution procedure to the trip-distribution problem based on a Markovian travel demand model, using only aggregate time-series trip-generation data. The proposed procedure is based on statistical estimation minimizing the errors sum of squares associated with the flow conservation constraint on trip attraction, subject to the trip-production flow constraint and a given trip-decay function. It is noteworthy to observe that the random error can be introduced into the trip-decay constraint or the trip-production constraint to generate the objective function to be minimized. The choice of the appropriate objective should be based on the predictive ability and the computational efficiency of the solution procedures associated with each of these two alternatives.The performance and efficiency of the proposed solution procedure in comparison with existing techniques have still to be demonstrated through empirical testing and computational experience. The model presented here, however, has a theoretical basis sound enough to suggest that an improvement in the efficiency of the resulting solution procedures could be expected in its application.     

Optimization of the liquid–liquid interfacial precipitation method for the synthesis of $$\hbox {C}_{60}$$ nanotubes

Tubular fullerene nanowhiskers called ‘fullerene nanotubes’ are composed of \(\hbox {C}_{60}\) fullerene molecules (\(\hbox {C}_{60}\) NTs) are synthesized at room temperature using the liquid–liquid interfacial precipitation method in the pyridine and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) system. The growth control of fullerene nanotubes is important for their chemical and physical properties as well as for their future applications. In the present study, we investigated the effect of light, water, solvent ratio and temperature on the synthesis of \(\hbox {C}_{60}\) nanotubes. A marked development in the yield of \(\hbox {C}_{60}\) NTs was achieved using dehydrated solvents, a solution with a volume ratio of 1:9 for pyridine: IPA, a growth temperature equal to \(5{^{\circ }}\hbox {C}\) and by illuminating the \(\hbox {C}_{60}\)-pyridine solution with ultraviolet light (wavelength 302 nm) for 102 h. The synthesized fullerene nanotubes were characterized by different analytical techniques including Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, optical microscopy, focussed ion beam scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.     

A self-protecting and self-healing framework for negotiating services and trust in autonomic communication systems

In a federation of heterogeneous nodes that organize themselves, the lack of a trusted third party does not allow establishing a priori trust relationships among strangers. Automated trust negotiation (TN) is a promising approach to establish sufficient trust among parties, allowing them to access sensitive data and services in open environments. Although the literature on TN is growing, two key issues have still to be addressed. The first one concerns a typical feature of real-life negotiations: we are usually willing to trade the disclosure of personal attributes in exchange for additional services and only in a particular order (according to our preferences). The second one concerns dependability. By their nature TN systems are used in unreliable contexts where it is important not only to protect negotiations against malicious attack (self-protection), but also against accidental failures (self-healing). In this paper we address these issues proposing a novel dependable negotiation framework where services, needed credentials, and behavioral constraints on the disclosure of privileges are bundled together.     

Structural and optical properties of CdGa2Se4 thin films

CdGa₂Se₄ thin films were prepared by vapour deposition onto either room temperature or preheated quartz and glass substrates (T _S) or they were deposited at room temperature and then annealed at about (T _A) 623 K. The films thus prepared were crystalline with a thiogallate tetragonal structure. The optical constants (the refractive index n and the absorption index, k) were determined for CdGa₂Se₄ films deposited onto quartz substrates held at either room temperature or at T _S = 573 K. These constants were also determined for preannealed films (T _A = 623 K). Plots of (hv)² = f(hv) and (hv)^1/2 = g(hv) were linear, indicating the existence of both direct and indirect optical transitions. It was found that the values of E _g ^d and E _g ^ind for as-deposited CdGa₂Se₄ films were 2.46 and 1.91 eV, respectively. The corresponding values for the annealed films and the films deposited at T _S = 573 K were 2.56 and 2.06 eV, respectively.     

TLM representation of the hyperbolic heat conduction equation

Many heat transfer situations are adequately described by the parabolic thermal diffusion equation. However, in situations in which very rapid heating occurs or in slower heating regimes for particular materials, the hyperbolic heat conduction equation is a better representation. Here, a parameterized nodal structure for transmission line modelling (TLM) representation of hyperbolic heat conduction processes is devised. A TLM model based on the nodal structure is implemented and temperature field predicted by the model are compared with analytical results for the same physical situation. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.